Installing Vinyl Flooring Over Asbestos Tile

Vinyl planks do not like to be installed over anything with grout lines.

Installing vinyl flooring over asbestos tile.

The main caveat is that all vinyl formats call for a smooth subfloor including sheet vinyl vinyl tile and luxury vinyl planks and tiles. This is trickier as you can t simply slap mortar down on top of old asbestos tile put down the new tile and expect a good result. Sometimes the cost to do this is very close to the same cost as removing the tiles 0 50 1 00 sf. If you are hiring a flooring company they may be hesitant to work around asbestos tiles.

So where feasible it makes sense to install the new flooring directly over the old without removing the old flooring. The installers refused to install over it due to the risk of particles becoming airborne. Installing vinyl flooring is a similar process. From the 1930s to the mid 1970s vinyl flooring contained asbestos which is not safe for you to remove yourself.

Fortunately it is not difficult to install vinyl tile over your vinyl floor as. If the grout lines in the ceramic tile are deep you ll see and feel them under sheet flooring and if you choose to install preglued vinyl tiles they won t stick. This isn t possible with every flooring material but it s often possible to install ceramic porcelain or stone tile over resilient flooring including standard sheet vinyl vinyl tile or linoleum. The vinyl asbestos tile vat you installed way back used asbestos as a matrix into which the vinyl was forced as a binder and a surface upon which to add the colors and designs.

In your situation for a new floor the most effective but simplest way you yourself could get a new floor over the asbestos tile is a process called encapsulation. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away. This can mean even a small corner piece you may not realize could be a hazard but it would be. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material.

Installing ceramic or porcelain tile over asbestos tile. If you do not remove the tiles you will be forced to add cement to the grout lines to get a smooth flat floor. Vinyl tile is an excellent option for sealing in asbestos tiles.